Hastings Observer

Bodiam will relive the days when it was the centre of the local hop growing industry this weekend (Sept 9/10) with the annual hop picker's festival and reunion.

The railway’s heritage steam trains will run each day through the beautiful Wealden countryside between Tenterden and Bodiam Stations with trains every 45 minutes.

Photo taken in 2016 at the Hop Picker's Festival.

The railway played an important part in hop picking at Bodiam as hops were grown along the Rother Valley and at the Guinness Hop Farms in Bodiam. Each year special trains were run to the Kent & East Sussex Railway from London to take the hop-pickers, invariably entire families from the East End, to Kent. The men, women and children would spend several weeks in the countryside each year, picking hops as their holiday.

Admission including all-day travel on the trains: Adult £18, Child (3 - 15 years inc.) £12 and Family (2 adults + up to 3 children or 1 adult and up to 4 children) £38.
For more information and booking visit http://www.kesr.org.uk/hopfest